I have two workstations with two different versions of Excel installed
(an Excel XP (2002) version, and an Excel 2003 version). I've been
notified that the printouts and display on the screen of certain files
seem to differ between the two versions.

I've looked at the print preview, and indeed find that certain pieces
of text on the screen of the Excel 2002 machine are displayed
condensed, to the point where they fit easily in a column. When I open
the same document in Excel 2003, I find that the column-width suddenly
is not wide enough to handle the text, and thus it moves over to the
next column. This wouldn't be that big a problem, but this display
also transfers over to printouts, which are a problem.

I've looked at the document, and about the only thing I can imagine
being the cause is the font being used. The document appearantly has
an embedded font and was provided from a non-local PC. The font named
is 'MS P%&@#' (the %&@# being some japanese kanji-characters I'm
unable to read).

I've looked at the default font (which is what I'd expect Excel to use
incase it hasn't got a specific font) but found both are set to use
Arial as a default font, both on fontsize 10. When I change the font
from the 'MS P%&@#' to 'Arial' in the document I notice the text
changing it's appearance, and then appearing too wide to fit in the
column. The font displayed on the screen therefore isn't 'Arial'. The
closest font to match 'MS P%&@#' would be 'Times New Roman'.

Now I have a few options I can take:

1) Ask the original sender of the Excel file for the font, and install
it on the appropriate PC's, or request them to use a default font.
2) Alter the behaviour of Excel to use a specific font if it can't
find the used font (can't find anything on this and where to alter
it).
3) Tell the users to alter the font for the entire worksheet to 'Times
New Roman', and do so for any subsequent document they receive from
abroad.

Option 3 is the most quick and speedy way, but requires user
interaction. Preferably I'd use option 2, so I possibly could use
Group Policy to enforce specific fonts if a font used isn't installed,
but I can't find anything on how to go about this. Option 1 regarding
the using a default font could potentially be a possibility.

Anyone have any thoughts on this matter as to what may be causing the
issue, and possibly how to correct it?

You can change all the fonts in a worksheet quite easily by clicking
on the intersection of the row and column identifiers to highlight
every cell, and then in the formatting toolbar select Arial (or
whatever you want to use).

Hope this helps.

Pete

On Apr 9, 11:00*am, Neko- wrote:
I have two workstations with two different versions of Excel installed
(an Excel XP (2002) version, and an Excel 2003 version). I've been
notified that the printouts and display on the screen of certain files
seem to differ between the two versions.

I've looked at the print preview, and indeed find that certain pieces
of text on the screen of the Excel 2002 machine are displayed
condensed, to the point where they fit easily in a column. When I open
the same document in Excel 2003, I find that the column-width suddenly
is not wide enough to handle the text, and thus it moves over to the
next column. This wouldn't be that big a problem, but this display
also transfers over to printouts, which are a problem.

I've looked at the document, and about the only thing I can imagine
being the cause is the font being used. The document appearantly has
an embedded font and was provided from a non-local PC. The font named
is 'MS P%&@#' (the %&@# being some japanese kanji-characters I'm
unable to read).

I've looked at the default font (which is what I'd expect Excel to use
incase it hasn't got a specific font) but found both are set to use
Arial as a default font, both on fontsize 10. When I change the font
from the 'MS P%&@#' to 'Arial' in the document I notice the text
changing it's appearance, and then appearing too wide to fit in the
column. The font displayed on the screen therefore isn't 'Arial'. The
closest font to match 'MS P%&@#' would be 'Times New Roman'.

Now I have a few options I can take:

1) Ask the original sender of the Excel file for the font, and install
it on the appropriate PC's, or request them to use a default font.
2) Alter the behaviour of Excel to use a specific font if it can't
find the used font (can't find anything on this and where to alter
it).
3) Tell the users to alter the font for the entire worksheet to 'Times
New Roman', and do so for any subsequent document they receive from
abroad.

Option 3 is the most quick and speedy way, but requires user
interaction. Preferably I'd use option 2, so I possibly could use
Group Policy to enforce specific fonts if a font used isn't installed,
but I can't find anything on how to go about this. Option 1 regarding
the using a default font could potentially be a possibility.

Anyone have any thoughts on this matter as to what may be causing the
issue, and possibly how to correct it?

I know I can use that method to change the font. Since the sheet is
appearantly being accessed by multiple persons and every now and then
a new one is issued from abroad, I'm kinda looking for a way that
doesn't require the user to do something to fix the font.

Thanks anyway for the input. It's appreciated.

You're welcome - hope you find what you are looking for.

Pete

On Apr 10, 8:59*am, Neko- wrote:
I know I can use that method to change the font. Since the sheet is
appearantly being accessed by multiple persons and every now and then
a new one is issued from abroad, I'm kinda looking for a way that
doesn't require the user to do something to fix the font.

Thanks anyway for the input. It's appreciated.